New Team : New Ties
by AGoodOmen
Summary: This is a friendship fic, charting the partly canon, partly exaggerated friendship of Matt Anderson and Jess Parker. It's something I felt the show could have developed more fully, and so I took it upon myself to write it into the series as missing scenes or character POV bits from the actual episodes. Possible mild profanity. Only canon ships: Jecker, Memily ( Conby).
1. Webisodes

New Team – New Ties : A Friendship Fic

**So. Let me make this quite clear. This IS NOT a romance/shippy fic. It's a friendship fic, charting the partly canon, partly exaggerated friendship of Matt Anderson and Jess Parker. Like all my fics it's something I felt the show could have developed more fully, and so I took it upon myself to write it into the series as missing scenes or character POV bits from the actual episodes, They were always depicted as getting on well, so here's my take on that. Hope you enjoy. Jecker and Memily, obviously, and a bit of Conby, though they are so canon there's almost nothing left to ship. Good grief, even the ****_actors_**** are together.**

*Webisodes*

"Don't worry, He's nice really." Matt Anderson wobbled his head at the FC mock doubtfully as she smiled encouragingly. Actually he was quite amused at the fact she felt the need to reassure him of the soldier's friendliness, like he was the child. He looked at her and smiled properly.

"Well, if I survive this you'll have to tell me just how you know that Jess." She grinned and winked, and walked off, pausing to call over her shoulder

"A lady never tells." Matt grinned and shook his head, jogging after the black clad security chief. He paused momentarily when he realised he'd already crossed the young woman off his list, despite the fact she was obviously a child prodigy and apparently deadly with a keyboard. When did he become this trusting? He couldn't, however, bring himself to suspect her. Damn. His father had warned him about making friends. Unless he was very much mistaken though, Jessica Parker didn't give anyone a choice.

**xxx**

"I don't know I think he's all right." Jess gazed earnestly up at her friend, if that's what he was, he probably was, but he was so withdrawn it was hard to tell. At least he willingly talked to her. Jess couldn't bear to have anyone dislike her. Come to that she couldn't bear to have anyone dislike anyone, which was why she was pushing Matt's case. Besides, she liked the team leader already. He was more reserved than Becker (if that were even possible) but he'd shown the glimmerings of a sense of humour, he liked plants, he was clever and he hadn't stared at her legs once. All these rather random thoughts passed through Jess' lightning quick mind at the speed of dark, and she looked up at Becker expectantly, nodding slightly to reinforce her point.

"Well I don't trust him, and you'll see the rest of the team won't either." He walked off and she fought the urge to roll her eyes, then gave in. He couldn't see her anyway. She hoped the meeting would change the suspicious Captain's mind.

**xxx**

"I didn't mean anyone should go through." She looked up at Matt worriedly, eyes requesting conformation that she hadn't done anything horrendous. He looked at her for a moment, then glanced after his 2nd in command and back to the worried FC biting her lip. He replied with a reassuringly calm voice and a wink.

"He knows, he'll calm down." She looked dubious, and muttered something about always putting her foot in it. To distract her he asked her some more questions about the tech, to which she replied enthusiastically, her depth of knowledge surprising him, even though he knew it shouldn't. She caught his expression and pouted slightly.

"You're doing that thing."

"What thing?"

"The thing people do when they realise daddy didn't just have connexions, or that I didn't sleep with Burton to get the job." Her voice was uncharacteristically bitter.

"What, who thought that?" He sounded genuinely shocked, and she decided to let him off the hook.

"Just, you know, rumours. I'm used to it. People said the same at my last job."

"Anyone ever says anythin' like that to you again you tell me, or Lester OK?" He waited for her to respond and when she nodded he added "I was just surprised, again, at how much you've achieved at your age, that's all." She smiled up at him, relieved and reassuring at the same time, her good humour returned.

"Look who's talking Mr Climbed-Everest-By-The-Age-Of-Thirty. Becker was _not_ impressed by the way." At her mention of the captain she immediately looked worried and glanced in the direction he'd gone. Matt grinned at her, took her by the shoulders and spun her out of her chair.

"Go find him. Get it off your chest. You're making me anxious. Go." He added, giving her a little gentle propulsion in the direction of the doorway. "I'll watch the ADD." I've been wanting to check it out anyways, he added silently to himself. Mind forever on the mission. He did, however, permit himself a small smile as he watched the field co-ordinator scurry off.

"Listen, about earlier, I'm _so_ sorry. It took me _literally_ twenty minutes to extract my foot from my mouth. Matt had to help and everything."

**So, what do we think so far? Does what I've added fit? **


	2. Episode 401

***Ep4.01***

"My fault James."

Jess stared at the man next to her in shock, mouth opening and closing like a fish. Realising how this must look she closed it again and tried to look unflustered, but her mind was racing. He's just covered for her, and not like a sneaky shopping trip, not that she's ever take a day off from this job, it was too important, but he'd covered up a huge and potentially calamitous mistake that _she'd_ made. And she was halfway through owning up. It was so transparent, Lester clearly didn't believe him, but Matt didn't seem to care. He was always so ruddy calm. He was saying something about overseeing some work at the menagerie now. Why, why cover for her? She didn't think he fancied her, he'd barely even looked at her, apart from her face, which he did tend to stare at; but that was his way with most people. But why? He was winding up his explanation now and Jess looked at him, half grateful, half quizzical, giving a nod to agree with his fabrication for Lester's sake. He just nodded calmly back at her and turned to look at Lester, who was ranting about becoming ambassador to Moscow or something. As Becker and his men arrived she took advantage of the distraction to tug on Matt's elbow.

"Not that I'm not grateful or anything, because I totally am, and thanks, but why did you cover for me?" He looked at her as if she'd asked a stupid question.

"I don't really want to have to re-coordinate with a new FC, plus, you're the best, so the replacement would be second best and we can't have that." She smiled slightly. "Also, who else would stand up to Becker on my behalf?" He smiled quite genuinely, and Jess was more than a little confused. She'd read his file, all of it, several times, and she'd spent a lot of time with him, just chatting about work, and dinosaurs and plotting against Becker (she couldn't help it, he looked adorable when he was annoyed) Wait, did she just think that? No. She was NOT going to crush on Becker like an irresponsible schoolgirl. He was a friend. What was she thinking? Oh yes, Matt. However much she read his file and however much they chatted she was no closer to knowing anything about him. He deflected personal questions very smoothly and never let slip any details about his life outside the ARC. She'd wondered about doing a little 'research', but now, after this, she guessed he'd earned her trust. Maybe he just didn't have a life, or wanted to keep his family/pet alien/secret mistress as far away from the ARC as possible. Well she could understand that. Snapping back to the present she saw the Head of Security marching to the door.

"Becker's going to tranq it. Shouldn't be long now." He was watching the soldier manoeuvre around the dracorex with a unsuitably calm demeanour. She frowned.

"Don't you think you should help him?"

"Now where would be the fun in that?" He turned towards her, smiling ever so slightly. She couldn't help it. Even though she turned back to watch the creature collapse against the glass her lips twitched irrepressibly.

**xxx**

"Meet me in the armoury in half an hour"

"Why?"

"Haven't you heard? The EMDs have arrived. The electro-muscular disruption weapons?" She added, upon receiving a blank look. Becker was good at blank looks. Actually he was good at looks, full stop. Shut up Jess.

"Oh yes, the toy guns." Matt and Jess rolled their eyes simultaneously. Which just made the soldier even more annoyed. Matt sighed. His father had warned him about how difficult the military attachment to the ARC would be, and sometimes he thought he was fighting a losing battle, even with what he took to be the captain's only weak point in his corner.

"If the toy guns had been here this mornin', this wouldn'a happened." He said shortly, jerking his head toward the snoring dracorex and walking off. Jess sighed, shook her head at the irate man before her and tripped off after Matt, leaving a slightly guilty feeling in the pit of Becker's stomach, which quickly morphed into fresh irritation at the team leader.

Matt slowed down as he heard the clacking of Jess' shoes behind him. He turned round and raised an eyebrow. She stared back at him.

"What – I'm interested in them too you know." And she was, Matt remembered. Surprisingly the young woman had been fascinated by his designs for the guns, and had offered some quite useful ideas on computer chipping all the weapons, so each shot was logged, unfortunately the blueprints had been sent to the manufacturers contracted by Prospero, but maybe in the next upgrade. He turned and said, mock-seriously

"And how do I know you're not Becker's spy?"

"Matt!" She smiled at him. "I guess you'll just have to trust me. It _probably_ helps that I'm not intending to leave the armoury before your briefing with Becker."

"Why? The guns are interesting, they're not that interesting."

"But watching you two bicker _so_ is." She really did have a wicked sense of humour for such an innocent looking person. She'd told him about her first meeting with Becker. He'd been impressed the Captain had managed to get one up on her, even though she'd complained he wasn't very original.

They reached the armoury and Jess cooed over the advanced electronics and said they looked like something out of Doctor Who. Which he made the mistake of asking about, and earned himself a promise of a box-set for Christmas for his stupidity. They moved on to the topic of how to convince the hostile Captain of the weapon's efficacy. Jess, after recommending that Matt abandon his attempts to reinstate civvies - which hadn't been worn since the time of Captain Ryan – in order to get Becker on his good side, suggested just ordering him to use them and dealing with his complaints through official channels. Which meant paperwork. Which Becker hated.

"Why don't I just hide his guns?"

"Do you have a death wish?" She asked, eyes wide. "He might have named some of them, like, names, like - Vera."

"He named a gun Vera?" Said Matt looking delighted at his new ammunition. Jess shook her head laughing.

"Remind me to add Firefly to your Christmas list." He looked a bit upset that he didn't have any ammo anymore and Jess considered making something up, just to see what happened, but decided that it could be saved for a real emergency, besides, there was a strong chance Becker would kill her, friends or not, and she was fairly sure he could make it look like an accident. Especially with dinosaurs in the building.

"I'm right about the civvies though." She said, hoping she wasn't pushing it too much. He thought she was, but then he also thought he knew the reason. She was practically a teenager, and having a lot of good looking men run around in black uniforms must be pleasant. He saw her watching him and decided to check if his theory was right.

"You seem awfully fond of the uniform Jess." She narrowed her eyes at his quirked eyebrow and said, with a straight face.

"Of course I am. They mean I can see where everyone is really easily on the monitors when you're working in crowded spaces. If I had my way you'd all be wearing pink, or yellow, or something even more eye catching." He backed down before a worthy opponent, she hadn't even blushed, and if it wasn't for the vehemence of her answer he would be totally convinced. Plus he didn't want her seriously suggesting the pink to Lester. From what he knew of the man he might actually do it if he was in a bad mood. Jess looked at her watch.

"He's late."

"Power games. I bet you a fiver he doesn't apologise when I call him out for it."

"Hmm. He is _normally_ quite polite, but then, it is _you_, so no, I won't take that bet." She smiled at him. He pretended to look hurt, but just then the door opened and Becker walked in. Matt tossed him a gun, hoping he'd be taken by surprise. Jess shook her head. Power games indeed. Matt was just as bad.

"Your late." As predicted no apology was proffered.

"Ohh excellent. Tasers." The sarcasm in his voice nettled Jess a little more than she would like to admit, even though it wasn't aimed at her, and she looked over at the team leader, who, as always looked infuriatingly calm.

"These are in a different league to any Tasers you've used before. I wouldn't have designed it if it didn't work." Jess, who had by now got used to Matt's seemingly un-conscious arrogance, looked over to see how Becker took to it. It was like being at Wimbledon.

"You need to remember how many friends I've lost." The soldier said evenly. "I'm not about to risk any more lives playing around with peashooters."

Jess decided to take matters into her own hands before the testosterone in the room (already dangerously high – this was the armoury after all) caused it to spontaneously combust, or made Jess even more aware of just how fit the Captain was. Get a grip Jess. Look at Matt, that'll calm you down. Matt nodded at her and she walked around to attack from a slightly different angle, and opening a case, hoping to break his 'kill Matt' stare by distracting him with a bigger gun.

"The EMD can be adapted to three basic levels, low medium and high voltage, depending on what you're using it for."

"I know what they do Jessica." He hadn't even looked away from Matt for a second. Matt just glanced at him before watching Jess walk back round the bench. She was getting tired of this.

"I don't think he believes us."

**xxx**

"It's so harsh."

Matt just sighed inwardly as Becker removed his comm and walked off, probably to punch something. He looked at the frowning girl next to him.

"I know Jess, but the rule is there for a reason."

"This whole place is here because of them, we have a job because of those two."

He refrained from mentioning that the world might also be destroyed because of one of them and just nodded.

"I'd like to have them on the team, but I don't think I can swing it. Phillip doesn't like relinquishing control." It was one of the first things he'd noticed about the man. That and the fact that he was a pompous arse. Albeit a moderately clever one.

Jess watched Connor and Abby shouting and sighed. "It must be killing Lester."

"Especially as the rule was his idea."

"Yeah." Said Jess sadly, watching the returning time travellers slump dejectedly out of the office and trudge towards the exit, without saying goodbye.

"Can't say I'm looking forward to debriefing those two."

"Why will you have to do it?"

"Phillip wants to test me out, I guess. Especially after this morning."

"Good luck." Said Jess fervently, before sighing once more at the unfairness of it all and turning back to her computer. Matt pushed himself away from the table with a jerk and walked off to check on Becker. From a distance.

**Tah Dah! *tap-dance-flourish* There's one chapter per episode, and I'll try and post one per day.**


	3. Episode 402

***Ep4.02***

Matt rubbed a hand over his face as he walked into the hub. Jess raised an eyebrow.

"Matt, you ok?" He looked over at her, then at Becker next to her.

"It's never an easy thing to do." Becker grunted in agreement and wandered off.

"At least Abby gets to stay with her creatures."

"Yeah. How's Becker?"

"Oh, you know, on the one hand pleased that they're back and out of danger, on the other hand wanting to _murder_ Philip for not letting them stay, c) getting stressed because his incessant professionalism won't let him haul off and hit anyone and lastly _still_ guilty about Danny."

"So not great then?"

"No."

"Wait, he told you all that?"

"No, I'm just extrapolating from, you know, his general Beckerness."

"Right. Call me if there's an anomaly Jess."

"I'd better go and get Abby set up. See ya."

"See ya."

**xxx**

Jess saw Matt checking the computer Abby had just used, and wandered over. Matt had a computer in his office, it wasn't normal for him to be using one of the more general ones. He'd even cut his off from the network, so it was impossible to hack externally. Bloody mysteriousness again, or just good computing skills, after all Jess had done the same to hers. That was the trouble with Matt, she could never quite make her mind up about him.

"Anything I can help you with?" He looked up, and his eyes were still bloody unreadable. It was too much really.

"Nah, I'm fine, thanks." He paused, glanced at the screen again and then shut the machine down. "I'm just gonna pop out for a bit."

"What if there's an anomaly?"

"I've got my black box." He said, clapping a hand on it reassuringly. Or what was meant to be reassuringly. Jess was still looking sceptical.

"Turned on?" He grinned, he enjoyed her banter, and if she just thought it was just negligence on his part she wouldn't explore his motives too deeply. Hopefully.

"Always." He said, turning to leave. Jess, having given up on him being truthful, decided that she might as well benefit from his mysterious excursion.

"Bring me back some chocolate. Nothing with orange in it though, that's just weird." He turned, smiled amusedly and was gone. Ok. Definitely up to something. Most people would be drawn into a conversation at the assertion that orange chocolate was weird. Most normal people. She was looking for a normal person to test this theory on when she remembered where she worked and turned instead to Becker, who was fiddling with a tablet, and clearly hadn't heard a word of their conversation.

"Matt's acting strange."

"Really." His tone was sarcastic, bordering on disbelief. Sort of a 'you're just getting that now?' vibe. "In what way?" Uninterested. Well, tough, thought Jess.

"I've worked with him for over eight months now, and I've read his file backwards and I still don't feel like I know him." It was true. She knew she knew him better than anyone else at the ARC, but that didn't mean she understood a fraction of what went on behind the façade. Only that something did. Becker, however had only picked up on one of the points in that statement.

"_You_ read his file?" Jess just looked at him. There's no need to be so surprised.

"Of course. I read everyone's file. That's my _job_." She saw his expression. Oh shit.

**xxx**

Jess listened as Matt petitioned Philip and Lester for the re-inclusion of the old team members. She had been planning to yell at him for not calling in, but she decided that she'd let it slide. After all she had been able to prove Becker wrong. He had called her brilliant. Jessica Parker, don't you dare squee. He was rude enough earlier.

Matt could've kissed Lester for making his job easy, not only his official job, though the expertise Abby and Connor offered would be invaluable. Having them under his eye at all times was better than having to set up surveillance outside. Plus, with them on his team it would be easier to determine and deflect any threat. Phillip, however, hadn't helped, and he didn't like being outmanoeuvred. Tough.

"Thanks Philip."

…

"By the way, where's my chocolate?" Jess' playful voice rang out across the hub and Matt glanced up. Damn. He'd been hoping to deflect any questions with a sufficient quantity of the sweet, but a rogue Caprisucus does have a tendency to drive all thoughts of chocolate from the mind.

"Was kina busy, sorry." He said with an attempt at a penitent smile. It must've worked because she just grinned, as if she hadn't really been expecting any and wandered back to the ADD. He was about to turn back when he spotted his 2nd in command remove a shiny purple bar from the pocket of his combat vest and place it deliberately on the terminal. His amused and admittedly startled eyes turned to the surprised field co-ordinator as she stammered out a thanks.

"Nothing with – orange – in it - right?"

"Right." He watched as Jess went the same colour as her top. The side of his mind that was never deflected from the mission thought that this charming new development would be a useful distraction if the girl began to get too inquisitive. And, as his human side pointed out; so much fun.

**Yes Matt is going to ship Jecker. To be fair the entire team does, and he's watching people all the time; of course he noticed.**


	4. Episode 403

***Ep4.03***

"Matt, it's Jess Can you call me back please?"

"Matt! Answer your phone!" Jess bit her lip in frustration. The man was being deliberately obtuse. He knew she'd only call him if there was an anomaly, and he didn't have his comm in. Against regulations.

…

"Jess I'm in the theatre, there's no sign of an incursion." Matt really hoped there wasn't one, and he could get back to the sick man as soon as possible. He also hoped Jess wouldn't call him out on his failure to communicate effectively.

"Matt, can I ask you a question?" Damn. She didn't even wait for an answer. "Why did it take so long to pick up your phone?" Great. Bother observant and curious FCs.

"I was busy." He paused, feeling that this probably wasn't sufficient, but unsure what to say. He settled for "Personal stuff." Really, Matt? His inner voice chided. Phillip was right you are a terrible liar. That's a serious occupational hazard for a secret operative. Thankfully Jess only seemed concerned. Probably justifiably since he'd never even used the word personal before. She probably thought he just switched off at the end of the day.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Don't get into it, brush it off, change the subject. Calm down.

"Becker and Abby are on their way."

Phew. That was too close. Right. Anomaly.

To say that Jess was shocked was an understatement. Matt had never even alluded to a life outside the ARC before, let alone personal stuff. She'd always assumed, well, she didn't know what she'd assumed, that the man - switched off at night? It must have been serious for him to acknowledge its existence like that. What the hell did Matt Anderson qualify as 'personal'? His file made no mention of family or any regular contacts.

"Jess, there's something in here." His voice cut through her theorizing (she'd got to secret love child) and her mind snapped back into professional mode. She was just about to make further inquiries when he radioed back in

"Jess where the hell's Becker?" Ok, so incursion?

"He's almost there, Matt, what's going on?" Definitely incursion. Need details. "Are you there? Matt? – Matt?" No reply. He was really taking the whole uncommunicative thing to a different level. "Matt?" Ok, now she was getting worried. "Where is he?"


	5. Episode 404

***Ep4.04***

Jess was in a good mood. Then the alert sounded. Her good mood was gone in an instant when the locator revealed it to be in a school. Then Becker reminded her it was Saturday. She brightened up and then frowned as she realised she'd have to attempt to call Matt, however he picked up immediately and sounded, if not happy then at least not overly cagey. Hopefully this would be a routine day.

"Jess, I can see cameras."

"There's a central system, controls the CCTV and all the doors. I'm hacking it right now."

"You'd make a great bank robber Jess."

"I'll consider it." She laughed, relieved he was in a good mood after the fiasco of yesterday, and happy that this looked to be a relatively simple callout.

Matt knew he was in a good mood. He was just wondering why.

**xxx**

"Jess can you see the kitchen – am I clear?"

"Camera's on the blink. I cannot tell!" Jess was frantic, one friend dying, one about to go into danger completely blind. This was exactly what she was supposed to prevent. She couldn't see Matt, there was too much interference. Just shapes in the snow on the screen. She didn't even want to think about Becker in the cupboard. If anything happened to either of them... Her heart almost stopped when she heard Becker call for Matt.

"Matt!" She cried desperately, cursing CCTV to hell and back. Just when she began to hyperventilate in fear and frustration Matt's voice came through.

"Jess I've found it." She was relieved that he was keeping her informed, but mainly she was willing him to get to Becker as fast as possible.

Jess couldn't see. Jess hated not being able to see. She couldn't do her job. She couldn't…

"Connor. Is Becker gonna be ok?" It came out as a whimper, and Jess was unaware that she said it. The pause was awful.

"Jess! He's still with us. Get us medics now." Professionalism kicked in and Jess immediately got to work.

"Connor, medics and backup are moments away." She laughed in relief and exhaustion. It was only later she realised she'd forgotten to ask after Matt.

**xxx**

Matt walked up to the ADD where Jess was furiously working on a cover story. She was slamming at her keyboard with unusual violence and her eyes were suspiciously red rimmed.

"Hey, you ok?" He asked softly. She jumped a little, and when she turned around her smile was small.

"No. I hate this part. Lester offered to do it, but it was my fault. I let it happen, so I owe it to her parents to make sure it's something that's believable and solemn. It's my job Matt." She added when he seemed about to interrupt. "Both parts. I messed one part up, so I'm going to do this the best I can."

He looked at the young woman, who was so driven and professional and was reminded of someone, but he couldn't think who.

"Jess, it wasn't your fault. There was nothing more you could have done. There was nothing any of us could have done. If it was anyone's fault it was everyone's fault and we saved two lives. C'mon Jess, tell me that isn't something." He was pleased that her smile was a little less brittle, and decided to distract her with something else. "Do me a favour Jess, when you've done that, go make sure Becker isn't beating himself up too much. I want him to come back from medical leave, not have to fill out the paperwork for a guilt and boredom induced suicide." She looked at him. "Ok, too soon. But go and check on him, yeah? I've got to get back." Oops. Thankfully she didn't seem to notice the slip of personal info, being as he had suspected, rather too focused on the prospect of going to see Becker.

As she typed a few more sentences into the press release and hit the save button he packed up his stuff and prepared to get back to Emily. She slid down from the ADD and marched towards the door, then she turned back and hugged the surprised man fiercely. As he held her she mumbled into his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're ok too. Thanks for, you know, talking."

"Anytime Jess." He replied smiling at the return of normal Jess, as she pulled away and trotted off to find soldier boy. Well, his mission voice thought, now I know how to distract her.

**Yes. This is what happened in my head canon. Deal with it.**


	6. Episode 405

***Ep4.05***

Matt walked into work still uncertain of his next move. Should he tell Lester, make it all official, or should he try and track down the Victorian woman himself. He had been so sure she would stay. It's not like she had anywhere else to go. The sight of Jess at the ADD hacking some CCTV to remove creature footage decided him. He needed the ARC's superior tech. He couldn't very well go to his father and say he'd lost a mysterious woman who's companion might have something to do with the end or the world. Or indeed might herself, he added, mentally reprimanding himself for striking another person from his mental list of suspects on instinct alone. Oh blow it. He suspected Emily about as much as he suspected Jess.

"Hey, Jess. Is Lester in yet?"

"Yeah he's in a meeting, why, what's wrong?" He might as well tell her, it'd all come out soon.

"You know that woman from the theatre?"

"Yeah, the one you broke all the rules for?" She arched a delicate eyebrow at him. He mentally added, more rules than you know, but continued with his story. Her eyes grew larger and larger and her mouth formed a perfect red 'o'.

"…and now I've lost her. She shouldn't be running around out there. And this Ethan guy, he's dangerous Jess. Just, pull Lester from his next meeting and give me a comm." She looked about to protest, or ask more questions, but he silenced her. "Jess, I need to talk to Abby." She handed him a comms unit and watched as he said a few brief words to Abby.

"Ok, Lester's on his way up. He's not happy."

"I wasn't really expecting him to be, thanks Jess." He turned to go but she called him back.

"Matt!" At the harassed expression on his face she paused and re-thought her planned tirade. "You're lucky Becker's still on medical leave. _He_ would have punched you by now." He raised an eyebrow, understanding that this was her way of letting him off lightly.

"Thanks for not punching me Jess." He smiled slightly, then headed up the stairs to meet the worried looking Abby.

**xxx**

"Jess, I need that information now. We don't know what Ethan's planning."

"Just, give me a minute."

"I don't have a minute."

"Matt. I have a job to do you know, involving anomalies, which would be a lot easier if certain people didn't insist on hiding corseted women in their flats, and not a nice girl with no baggage and a harmless fetish, no, a bloody time traveller with a freaking psychopath in tow, who then proceeds to kidnap her. Becker was right, your judgement sucks."

"Look Jess. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I need that information."

"Connor can you see the anomaly yet?"

"Jess! Please."

"Oh for God's- Matt just hold on ok?"

Just as the radio silence was beginning to really anger Matt, his comm fizzled back into life with an uncomfortable burst of static.

"Uh, Matt, can you read me?"

"Lester? What are you doing there?"

"Bear with me, I'm the new Jess."

Matt couldn't decide which was worse, an angry, frazzled Jess or Lester. At the words 'blinking dots' he made up his mind. He'd take the pissed off Miss Parker any day.

**xxx**

Jess walked into the medical bay and sat down next to the Victorian woman's bed. She looked mildly alarmed so Jess smiled encouragingly.

"I'm Jess, you must be Emily Merchant. The medics.." She broke off as Matt came round the curtain, pulling a shirt over his bandages, with a medic who was advising him to get some rest. She glanced up at him, and saw his gaze drop immediately to the woman on the bed as he brushed the medic off.

"Emily, you ok?" She looked a little blank. "How are you feeling?" he clarified. Emily looked up at Jess, before turning to him.

"I feel fine, somewhat shaken, but alive. Jess was just talking about medicine, I think."

"The medics think you are fit to go if you feel up to it, they've left a prescription for sleeping pills with me if you think you'll need them. We've had a room made up here, not a cell" she added hastily at the woman's alarmed look, "just somewhere safe." Throughout this speech Jess had totally ignored Matt. He guessed she was still a little put out. Maybe she was suffering from chocolate deprivation, since Becker was away. He hadn't thought of it. Plus, he didn't want to give Becker any more reason to hit him as hard as he could.

"She's not staying here to be prodded and questioned by Phillip and Lester's goons." He said firmly. "I'm taking her home, she needs rest and comfort and company."

"Oh yes Matt, because your flat is so comfortable." Matt sighed. Definitely still pissed off with me.

"Look, Jess, just work with me, ok? I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but you would've told Lester and Emily would've been locked up. We can talk about this in the mornin'. Right now we're going home." Matt was vaguely panicked by his unconscious assumption that Emily's home was with him, but he was too tired and sore to worry about it right now.

Jess looked like she wanted to say something about being locked up probably being preferable to being buried alive, but Emily interrupted her.

"Do I have to stay here?" Jess immediately looked kinder.

"Of course not, not if you don't want to. We just thought, given how easily Ethan got in you might want to be somewhere safer." Fair point, conceded Matt in his head. I'll have to work on that.

"Ethan thinks I'm dead. Probably anyway. And my things are all at Matt's. I am sorry, but I do not feel comfortable here right now." And she felt comfortable with him? Matt was just awake enough to be worried at how pleased he was about that. Jess seemed to be asking the same question, but she appeared to decide that Emily knew best, and her taste in comforts was her own business.

"No problem. I'll square it with Lester for tonight. I can't promise about tomorrow though. If you need any clothes or anything just get Matt to call me." And, still blanking her team leader Jess left he medical bay. Matt sighed and looked down at Emily.

"Don't worry, she's nice really."

**Because Jess can be scary when she wants to, and isn't afraid to tell anyone off. I never got the purely cutesy cuddly depiction of her in the fandom. She's formidable. AND cuddly. **

**In response to the guest reviewer: thanks for taking the time to tell me what you thought, and I'm sorry you took their interactions to be more than friendly. They were in no way meant to be, I simple based them on my interactions with my best friend. I also wanted Jess to be more than just a short skirt with a crush on Becker. If anyone else feels the way I'm presenting the characters or their interactions is wrong, then please let me know. Hopefully things will be less confused not Emily has arrived. As always I love to hear feedback :)**


	7. Episode 406

***Ep4.06***

Matt and Emily walked into the Hub; Emily warily, Matt wearily. He was aching all over after his fight and fall, and the seeping realisation that he was in danger of completely losing his head over the Victorian woman, no matter what he told his father, had kept him up all night. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with Lester, or, oh God. Becker. He was leaning over the back of Jess' chair listening to something she was saying. From the looks on their faces he could guess it was to do with him, and judging from the way Becker's eyebrows were in danger of meeting his hairline he was in for an earful. Again. Abby passed him on the way to her lab and patted his shoulder in solidarity. He made a mental note to ask her for tips on how to deal with Becker. According to Connor she was the best at it.

Becker turned around, and caught sight of Matt and Emily. He tapped Jess on the shoulder and she spun around, eyebrow raised. She smiled at Emily, who returned it gratefully. Matt pulled out a chair for Emily, and turned to his two team mates at the ADD.

"Look, before you say anything. Just, don't say anything. Please." He directed it at Jess, and jerked his head towards Emily slightly, hoping the presence of the stranger would discourage arguments.

"WHAT THE HE-!.." Becker began regardless, but Jess jumped up and lay a hand on his arm.

"Leave it Becker." Matt nodded relieved thanks at her and she narrowed her eyes and added "For now." Matt sighed, only momentarily diverted by the way Becker was staring at Jess's hand on his arm, and the way Jess didn't move it.

Jess didn't move her hand until she was sure the man she was restraining wasn't going to haul off and hit his boss. (Nothing to do with how nice his arms were. At all.) She was still a little cross with Matt, but the man was being so kind to Emily, who seemed really nice, and he looked so tired. And it was interesting to see that Becker listened to her.

"Emily this is Captain Becker. He runs security for us." As Emily looked a little nervous, and more than a little pugnacious, Jess added "He's nice, honestly." Becker looked slightly offended at the introduction and turned to Jess, but she pushed him none to gently off the dais and propelled him in Emily's direction, smiling reassuringly at the shocked woman. Becker's expression automatically became polite and friendly, if formal, and he shook Emily's hand and asked her how she was doing.

Matt stared dumbfounded at Jess, who was staring at the conversation with a satisfied smile. She saw him looking and smiled slightly, letting him know that although all might not be totally forgiven it could be put aside. With her at least.

"Guys, listen. Lester wants to see you and Emily now, Matt. Becker, you'd better go too, Matt can explain everything much better than I can. Don't kill him. I'm watching. And listening. Be nice."

"I'll try." Said Becker sardonically, frowning at Matt, who desperately wanted to make a comment about how whipped the soldier was, but thought it better to refrain. Jess might let Becker kill him out of sheer embarrassment. As they walked up to Lester's office Emily asked Matt

"What did you do to everyone?"

**xxx**

**(NOTE: Slight AU. Imagine that Becker and Jess didn't get back in time for the wedding, and Matt didn't take Emily to see his father until after this little scene. So his father is not dead yet, and the team have just got back from the wedding. Because didn't we all want to see the fallout from the bomb scare? And Jess' relationship with Lester is adorable.)**

Matt, Emily and Abby (Connor went straight to his lab, oblivious to Abby's frown of displeasure) walked back into the hub and stopped short at the sight of Lester and Jess having a shouting match in the middle of the floor, while Becker looked sheepish, but ready to separate them if it came to blows.

"What do I think I was doing? Oh I don't know, how about saving your Head of Security, plus a building full of people, plus a LOT of paperwork!" Becker put a hand on Jess' shoulder but she shook it off impatiently. Matt and the others stared at the scene open mouthed.

"Do you know how much paperwork I'd have had to do if you'd DIED!" Lester yelled.

"Oh, right because you wish we'd never found Ethan."

"Yes I bloody well do! He's far more trouble than he's worth, as are _you_ Miss Parker." Jess looked ready to fly at him and Becker grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away just as Matt shook himself out of his shock and called across the room

"OK. Will everyone just calm down. Becker, what happened?" Becker, keeping flush hold of Jess, who still looked furious with her boss, explained the day's events as concisely and neutrally as possible. When Jess interrupted he put a hand over her mouth and carried on talking, only blushing slightly. Matt raised an amused eyebrow but let the captain finish.

"So let me get this straight. You set up a stakeout on Ethan's flat. You forgot to take food - Jess brought you dinner. Ethan showed up. You told Jess to call for backup and went in. Jess did so, waited ten minutes before disregarding your order to stay put - _I haven't finished Jess_. She found you compromised and diffused a bomb. Backup arrived. You packed up the flat as Evidence and came back here. Right." He looked at Lester. "Now. Why the sudden need for anger management classes?"

"Lester told me off for saving Becker's life!" Jess had somehow broken free from Becker, who was now limping round in circles looking pained.

"No, I told you off for endangering an operation, being a civilian in the line of fire, being unqualified to use a firearm and still doing so –

"I never actually shot it!"

"Let me finish! And nearly giving me a damn heart attack. Which is the last thing this place needs!" Jess opened her mouth to retort but Matt cut in.

"Ok. Jess, you're coming with me. Emily, take James into his office and get some alcohol in him. Abby, tell Becker about the wedding."

"So, Action Man. Being saved by a girl? What will you give me not to tell Connor? Jenny says hi by the way." She added, grinning at her friend's murderous expression.

"Come along Mr Lester. Whiskey or scotch?" Said Emily soothingly, leading the haggard looking man up the stairs.

"Both." He said shortly.

Jess sat quietly on the couch in Matt's office. He watched her, noting her shaking frame and pale complexion.

"OK. So what's really wrong?" She looked up sharply. "That's just Lester, Jess. You deal with that every day."

"I'm not put into a situation where I have to diffuse a bomb every day. A bomb whose maker wasn't even considerate enough to have the right coloured wires, I mean seriously. I thought it was standard procedure for evil criminal mastermind-ey psychopaths to have a red wire and a green wire, but no. Two red wires. Honestly." Jess was rambling, a sign she was still stressed.

"You just cut one of two red wires? And you didn't know which one?"

"Don't you start. The count-down was ending and I made an educated guess."

"What? How?"

"Most people are right handed. A right handed person would put in the most dangerous wire on the side where he had most control over it. So I cut a wire."

"That's pretty risky Jess."

"It was 60/40 odds off being blown up, or 100/0 odds on. Which would you have taken?"

"Ok, so I understand you had a near death experience. But surely Lester being sarcastic wasn't enough to flip you out like that?"

"He wasn't just sarcastic, he was really angry when we told him what had happened. He was so white. It was scary."

"Jess, he was worried for you. He cares about you and you almost died. And Becker." He added after a moment. "Sarcasm is his normal way of coping with stress. I guess this was such a stressful situation it wasn't enough. Like it was for you. You couldn't cope with it because you were already strung out."

"I've acted really badly haven't I? I didn't mean to; I just snapped. I don't usually crash Becker's stakeouts, get blown up, hug Becker, miss an anomaly alert and then get yelled at. I should go and apologise!" She said, looking suddenly horror stricken. "I was really rude, and I was probably about to hit him! Oh my God!"

"That might be a good idea." He said, grinning, relieved that she was back to normal. "Hey, Jess?" He called as she jumped up and scurried to the door. "What did you do to Becker?" She actually grinned at that and exhibited an elegant foot with an expensive, 5 inch, lime green spike protruding from it. He raised an eyebrow. "That ought to teach him to laugh at my shoes, don't you think?"

"Probably. Look, when you're done apologising, go home and get some rest. That's an order Jess." She smiled at his relieved face and clicked out of the room. Matt shook his head at the insaneness of his life and his friends and went to find Becker.

"Has she calmed down?" Becker looked hilariously (from Matt's point of view anyway) concerned, and he was tempted to rib him a little about his hugely transparent crush, but settled for

"I think so. Probably just overwrought. How's your foot?"

"Not bad. I was wearing _combat boots_! Combat boots and I'm still going to have a bruise."

"She said not to make fun of them again."

"So she's feeling better then?" Lester wasn't the only one who hides sincere relief with sarcasm, thought Matt.

"Yeah, I think so. I sent her home though, and mate…"

"I know. But I'm _not_ going on medical leave."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Becker took his bag from the locker and headed out the door but Matt called him back.

"Mate, I know a hug and a heel stamp on the same day might seem like mixed signals, but if you move any slower – let's just say you might both be in line for a package holiday to the cretaceous." Becker just scowled at him and headed out the door, leaving Matt grinning and feeling that the day hadn't been a total waste.

He found Emily babysitting Rex in the menagerie. "Jess is apologising most abjectly." She smiled. "And Lester had two stiff whiskey's so he's in a much more amenable mood. He did however say I must stay here until Ethan is caught. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind. I'm glad you're going to be safe. Listen, Emily, about earlier…"

"Matt. It's fine. You know everything now. To be honest it's a relief." Relief. That would be nice.

He paused, his eyes inscrutable, sizing her up. "I have to be somewhere. Like to come?"

**Stress makes people do strange things. And heels are always an effective weapon against pretty much anything. Tell me what you think; did I make Jess too OOC? Or was it reasonable given the circumstances?**


	8. Episode 407

***Ep4.07***

Jess took one look at the deadened look in the eyes of the man in front of her and the questions on her lips died instantly. Emily had clearly chosen to go back. As Abby opened her mouth she quieted the zoologist, receiving Matt's silent thank you with a half-smile and towing the older girl away. Matt collected his things and drove home. He'd face it all tomorrow.

**Yeah, I know, short, but this episode had wayy too much stuff. I had to boil it down to one moment. I couldn't go over it all again.**


	9. Episode 502

**OK. So, 5.01 had zero potential for Matt/Jess interaction. I mean none whatsoever. So I skipped it. 5.02 however…**

*Ep.5.02*

Matt and Abby watched frowning as Connor, still talking on his phone, peeled away from them on their way to the hub and headed off to his lab. Matt squeezed Abby's shoulder reassuringly, and she looked up at him with a brittle smile.

"I'm just gonna… go and check Rex hasn't escaped." She said, a little too brightly. Matt nodded understandingly. It can't be easy knowing your boyfriend is partially responsible for the end of the world. And the fact he was ignoring her couldn't be helping. He made his way into the main operations area and jogged down the steps. He was accosted by a heeled ball of high fashion and poked sharply in the chest with a dagger-like finger.

"Ow – Jess!"

"You scared me! What happened? The bloody Admiral almost nuked you! I was so worried!" With every exclamation she poked him again, until he grabbed her wrist to ward her off. He pressed a hand to his chest, which he was sure she had bruised.

"Quit pokin' me and I'll tell you." They walked into the lounge area and Matt made himself coffee and told his side of the tale to the avid young woman perched on the counter top.

"Connor said what?" Was a common interjection.

…

"You gave Abby a giant spanner? Matt, we're not living in a cartoon!"

"It was all there was, honest!" he protested.

"It was quite a good weapon to be fair." Said Abby, coming in and flopping on one of the sofas. She looked marginally more cheerful, Matt was pleased to note, and immediately asked "Where have you got to?"

Between them they got the story finished, and it was Jess' turn to relate what had happened back on dry land. She enjoyed her captive audience, and told her tale with vigour.

"…He asked me for coffee, can you believe it!"

"Wow, bet that went down well." Said Matt dryly.

"What went down well?" Came a voice from the door. Becker was leaning against it eyebrow raised.

"Becker, how was the christening?" Asked Jess, slightly flushed. "I file the requests for time off remember?" She added at his enquiring look.

"Deadly dull. Baby looked like a screaming Winston Churchill, only not quite. What went down well?"

"Jess was just telling how some sexist twit of an Admiral thought she was a secretary and asked her for coffee." Abby explained.

"He WHAT!?" the soldier exclaimed furiously.

"Calm down mate, I'm guessing Jess did not make him coffee?"

"No," she said giggling, "Lester said 'Us too, mine with cream, no sugar.' Then he asked me how I take mine."

"What did you say?" Abby asked laughing hysterically.

"Frothy. Thanks very much Admiral."

"My respect for Lester has just gone up." Said Becker grinning.

"Wait till you hear what he said about ways the Admiral could extend his masculinity!" Everyone clamoured to hear more, then Becker frowned.

"Hold on, back up a minute. Why was an Admiral here?" Jess and Matt looked at each other and laughed.

"Of course, you don't know. Matt, you tell your bit again. I'd only just started." Matt gave Becker a very concise, military version of the day's events, then Jess went back to her story.

"So, after you went through the anomaly the admiral decided to nuke it. Because apparently that makes everything all better. Lester called the minister… … … And then Lester's phone rang and it was the Prime Minister! You should have seen the man's face. He deserved it, he was such an idiot, endangering the timelines like that. Lester called him out for it, but he ignored him completely!"

"Wait, Lester pays attention to timelines?" Matt interrupted Jess' mini rant incredulously.

"Guess Connor rubs off on everyone." Becker said drily. Matt glanced fleetingly at Abby, but she didn't seem too upset. She looked thoughtful.

"I think he actually started to be careful after the Claudia Brown incident. He never really believed Cutter, none of us did, except Connor, and maybe Jenny, but Cutter told him once that he'd been Sir James Lester in the alternate timeline, and I think he was always careful after that." She finished with a grin.

"Wow," said Jess. "Cutter must have been really brave, I would _not_ want to tell Lester that he'd once had a knighthood and that something I'd done had potentially taken that away." Jess looked terrified at the mere thought. Matt grinned.

"Lester or a dracorex Jess?"

"A dracorex, because then Be- I mean you guys, could protect me, right?" Matt looked at Becker pretending not to have heard and Jess pretending not to be blushing and tried very hard not to laugh.

"I think Cutter was just in a bad mood." Said Abby, her train of thought uninterrupted by the silliness. Becker shook his head slowly

"Connor tried to explain the whole Claudia Brown thing to me once. Can't say I understood it, but I got enough to know that detonating a nuke in the Jurassic is a pretty bad idea. Good thing I wasn't in or I'd've shot the Admiral to stop him screwing up the future." Matt shook his head silently. You have no idea mate. Becker suddenly looked around frowning. "Where _is_ Temple?" Matt glanced at Abby before replying. Jess saw, and frowned curiously.

"In his Lab, working." Becker looked at him, then at Abby. He frowned at her defeated posture.

"I could go and threaten him until he comes out?" He offered.

"Thanks Becker, but he's doing what he wants. Leave him." Becker looked worriedly at Matt, who shot him a 'leave it, bad time mate' look. Jess frowned even more, and looked concernedly at Abby. Becker got the message and, turning to the FC on the countertop, changed the subject.

"Why didn't you call me in?"

"Becker, you were at a christening, besides, what would you have done apart from wear a hole in the lino and potentially kill a high ranking member of the Royal Navy?" Said Jess archly. "I can't work when you're hanging around anyway."

"Too much of a distraction am I?"

"Too much negative energy more like." She bit back. Matt watched the flirting take off and sighed in relief. The last thing he needed was a curious Jess wondering why Abby was depressed. Or a concerned Becker for that matter. As they both realised what they were doing the conversation turned abruptly back to the anomaly. Both Jess and Becker had to fight down blushes as they saw Matt's smirk. Just then Lester appeared in the doorway. "Right you lot, back to work. What are you doing here Captain?"

"Couldn't stay away sir."

"Flirt with Miss Parker, Captain, not me thank you." Matt laughed outright and even Abby cracked a grin. The blushes returned. "You two," their boss added obliviously, nodding to Matt and Abby, "My office, now. I assume you've heard what happened at this end from Jess?"

"Yeah. Well done Sir." Said Matt.

"Oh, you lot got out of the bloody thing's way. Apparently pond life doesn't take my advice very seriously."

"What _did_ you say to the minister?" Jess asked curiously.

"Have a good apocalypse." Said the civil servant as he walked out of the room. Matt, Jess, Becker and Abby exchanged identical looks that said – for that, and that alone, the man deserves a knighthood.

**Tah Dah! I was really upset that we never got to see Becker's reaction to the whole 'interfering-royal-navy' thing. Plus some of the lines from this episode were just too good not to recap. We're into series 5 people! If you've stuck with this nonsense from the beginning then thanks. It means a lot. Keep reviewing please, feedback is manna to the writer's soul.**


	10. Episode 503

***Ep5.03***

Jess ran an eye over the security camera feed. Something caught her eye, one of the labs had been isolated, and she didn't need to check the authorization code to guess who had switched it. She didn't even need to run back the footage to check who was in there. It would be Matt and Abby. Jess honestly didn't know what conclusion to form. Ok, that was a lie, she knew exactly what conclusion to form. She just didn't want to. So Abby had been feeling pushed aside and abandoned by Connor, and so Matt had been missing Emily, it didn't mean - . Except for the part where it totally did. The only problem was Jess' unwillingness to accept it. Connor and Abby were perfect together, and so in love. And Matt, Matt wouldn't do something like this. He just wouldn't. She knew him, he was her friend. So Jess desperately clung to straws, like a soldier's comment about Matt needing to get laid. Men knew when guys were getting some? Didn't they? And Abby was so depressed. Which she wouldn't be if she had a lover right? Matt wasn't even Abby's type anyway. Even Jess had initially thought he was gay, he was that uninterested. But… Jess switched the feed to the gym (much more uplifting viewing) and tried to put her suspicions out of her mind.

**xxx**

Jess' conversation with Abby had, if not put her at ease, at least refuted some of her suspicions. She no longer believed Matt and Abby were having an affair. Abby's rebuttal had been brief and unthinking. They were however up to something. But Jess, just happy that she wasn't going to have to get Becker to kill Matt, could wait until he saw fit to tell her. Except they'd better bloody do it soon or she was going to explode with curiosity.

**xxx**

"Well, Lady Merchant, welcome back." Lester refused to be surprised by anything. "I'm sure we still have your new identity on file, Jess?"

"Ready to go. You're Emily Merchant, ex-RAF, single and currently living in Knightsbridge. Boarding school, good family, degree in History of Art from Durham. All ok?"

"I was not married?" Emily was a bit surprised at the speed with which she was being accepted.

"We assumed you'd rather forget." Said Matt gently.

"I would have got you the title, but Debretts is impossible to hack. Trust me. It's better protected than freaking Thames House." Said Jess both amused and frustrated. Emily smiled at her.

"That's fine. Wonderful in fact. It was never my title anyway."

"Now, we haven't got you on the payroll yet, but I'm sure that given your one woman ARC in the 1800s we could stretch the previously employed rule." Said Lester "Until you find a place to live we have rooms here.." Jess noticed Matt's frown, and smiled delightedly. He really did love her. How could she have suspected him? It was so perfect. Becker's going to have a field day. (All thoughts seemed to lead to the Captain these days) "…and if you would just sign these disclaimers, health policy, Official Secrets Act, citizenship…"

Lester eventually finished, by which time Emily's hand was almost sore from signing, and waved his employees out of his office. When they were at the door he called out "Oh, and keep her away from Phillip." Jess saw Matt's look, which very succinctly expressed the sentiment 'you _really_ don't have to tell me that', and raised an eyebrow. She was distracted by Emily tapping her arm and saying

"I don't want to bother you, but I don't have anything to wear. I know we are not the same size" _or style_ she added privately "but could you help me find some suitable clothes?"

"Of course!" Squealed Jess excitedly.

"You really don't know what you've let yourself in for Emily." Matt said drily.

"Shut up Matt, I'm only taking her to Harrods, Bond Street, Selfridges…" He just laughed and pulled out his card, which he handed to Jess.

"Guess you'll need this then. Try not to spend me into oblivion Jess. And Emily, don't let her get you anything you don't feel comfortable with. And make sure you get stuff you can run in."

"That means no heels Jessica." said a voice from around the corner, preceding the black clad form of Captain Becker. Jess blushed, swatted her hands ineffectually at the men and rolled her eyes at Emily, who reciprocated with sisterly fellow feeling. Then, arm in arm, they walked out of the hub, Jess calling over her shoulder to her friend

"I'll drop her off at yours when we're done, shall I?" then stepping into the lift without waiting for an answer. Becker clapped a hand on Matt's shoulder in deep male sympathy.

"Mate."

"Yeah. I know." But Matt smiled. Emily was home and Jess Parker was a truly awesome friend.

**Isn't she just. This is pretty much exactly what I did when my friend's old crush arrived in our village needing somewhere to stay. They're together now so I guess it worked.**


	11. Episode 504

***Ep5.04***

Becker was no-where to be found, the coward, so Matt and Emily took Jess home. She was pale but cheerful, and horrified to find out all the things she had said in her delirious state.

"Why tigers?" She asked Emily incredulously.

"I have no idea. You did shoot the beetle however, even though you thought it was a tiger." Emily smiled at her friend, encouraging her to laugh. "Captain Becker was most impressed at your aim." Matt shook his head warningly at Emily, but the damage had been done.

"I bet he was less impressed that I called him mean." Said the FC sadly.

"He knows you were rambling Jess, besides, you've called him worse than mean, and I can't remember a sayin' 'in anaphylactic-shock veritas' can you?" He grinned at her in the rear view mirror, trying to keep her mind off the conspicuous absentee. He was going to shoot Becker again when he saw him. Bloody idiot, can't he see she likes him back? What's wrong with a bit of emotion anyway? He realised he's muttered the last bit out loud and Jess and Emily were looking at him, eyebrows raised. "OK, so I'm not one to talk, but even so." They both smiled sardonically and went back to an in depth discussion of what had happened whilst Jess was unconscious.

Matt pulled up outside Jess's building, and helped her up the stairs to her door. He was still thinking of Becker's emotional ineptness, which was taking Emily away from him (she was staying the night with Jess) and making Jess upset. And the mission, of course, what the hell was he going to do now Connor knew? He only replied absently to her statements, she frowned and prodded him.

"Hey, drop it Matt. Seriously. I'm fine. Becker's an idiot, he'll come round, I'll probably have a mountain of chocolate and epi-pens on my desk tomorrow." She smiled reassuringly as she passed Emily her front door key.

"He shouldn't leave you hanging like this. It's not fair Jess. On anyone. I've already lost money on it."

"You were over optimistic. Lester says the smart money's on the end of the month." She grinned. The fact that there was an office pool on how long it would take Becker to wake up was a constant source of amusement to them. Jess hoped the soldier would come round eventually, but she wasn't about to do anything to endanger their friendship, and was content with light flirting for now.

"I guess I'd better get back, make sure Connor hasn't destroyed the planet while I'm away." He wasn't even joking. Oh the irony. Even Emily raised an eyebrow. "You two take care ok? I'll pick you up in the morning. Lester's back then yeah?"

"Yeah. Thanks for lending me Emily by the way." She said with a wicked grin as he hugged them both.

"I see you're feeling better already." He said, as he walked out the door.

**xxx**

"We've got to tell the others. It's all moving too fast. At least now I know none of you are involved."

"Apart from me." Said Connor morosely.

"How d'you think they'll take it?" Asked Abby.

"Not well. Lester will fire me, Becker will hit me, and Jess… Jess will be really hurt. It won't help that I knew they weren't responsible really early on. I didn't tell them."

"They'll understand."

"Really, Abby? You only believed it so quickly because you hate Phillip."

"What about what Danny said?" Connor interjected.

"You didn't believe that Connor." Abby reminded him. "And they've only got Matt's word that he told them that, and Emily's, but she'd swear black was white for him. You're right, it's gonna be hard."

"Yep."

"Yeah." Matt sighed.

_Lester will fire me, Becker will hit me, and Jess will be really hurt._

**Big reveal coming up! Another scene we should have had, instead it was all - yeah, ok, moving on. And Becker is a cowardly lion. And an idiot. Oh well, we can soon fix that. :)**


	12. Episode 505

***Ep5.05***

Matt knocked on the door of Jess' apartment early the next morning. It was opened immediately by a fully dressed Emily, who smiled at him, then frowned at the look on his face.

"Hey. Is Jess awake yet?"

"She's in the shower."

"How is she?"

"She's fine, modern medicine really is amazing."

"How are you?" Emily was touched that despite his obvious urgency and concern he was asking after her wellbeing.

"She snores a little, I should probably warn the Captain." She smiled. "But I'm fine, thank you."

"Good. Listen, Emily…" Matt quickly filled her in on Connor's revelations. "We have to tell the others."

"Are you absolutely sure this time?" She asked cautiously.

"Certain."

"Good." She smiled at him. "You're going to do it Matt."

"I hope so."

"What do you hope?" Asked a towel clad Jess emerging from the bathroom. "Hi by the way Matt."

"Jess, get dressed quickly will you? We need to get back to the ARC." She took in his urgent manner and decided not to take umbrage.

"Sure, what's up?" Just because she wasn't upset at his curt attitude didn't mean she wasn't curious. Not that she expected him to answer or anything, and sure enough he didn't disappoint.

"Tell you later. Hurry up."

"I'm going. I'm going."

"How do you think they'll take it?" Asked the Victorian woman as Jess' door shut behind her.

"Badly." Said Matt dryly.

**xxx**

"I've got something to tell you. I'd like to get through it without interruptions, please. You can say stuff when I'm done." Jess and Becker stared at the team leader, flanked by Abby and Emily. Connor sat of to one side looking tortured. Becker was looking exasperated already, and Jess was excited and worried in equal measure. Excited because she was finally going to find out what the hell was going on, and worried because of how serious everyone looked. She stared hard at her friend, who didn't seem able to meet her eye. He pulled a small chip from his pocket and placed it on the table, then he fiddled with his watch. A holographic screen, unlike anything Jess had seen before appeared. He touched an area and footage of a shattered earth began to play. They stared at it in shock.

"This is your future. All life on earth is going to come to an end because of someone's interference with the anomalies. I know this because I was sent back to prevent it, to alter the timelines so this," he gestured to the screen, "never happens. I made sure I was the perfect candidate for this job and I've been training for it my whole life." He stopped to gage their reactions, his face as impassive as possible. Becker looked unsure whether to believe him, and Jess looked plain horrified.

"Phillip Burton has created an machine that will open up a man-made anomaly, like Connor's," the scientist winced visibly "only a hundred times bigger. He was in contact with Helen Cutter before her death. It will destroy the world. I'm going to stop it, but I need help." Jess frowned.

"I knew you were up to something, sneaking around with Abby, and Abby worrying about lying to Connor. But -why didn't you tell us before?" He sighed.

"I didn't know who to trust. I'm sorry. It could have been any of you. I had to keep my guard up, I couldn't let anyone get too close. That's why I sent Emily back."

"But clearly these three knew." Said Jess, more than a little upset. "Was I really such a threat? Did you honestly not trust me?"

"Jess I trust you with a lot, I just couldn't trust you with the whole planet. I'm sorry. I never suspected you after I met you. It was just too important."

"Why could you tell this lot?" She almost shouted.

"Emily worked most of it out, but she went back to the 1800s, so I thought it would be safe enough. Abby worked it out on her own recently, and I told her the truth because I needed her to help me get a hold of Connor's research. Connor wouldn't have found out if we hadn't had that incursion yesterday."

"And we wouldn't have found out either?"

"No. The fewer people involved the better. I'm sorry Jess that's just the way it is. You could have been dangerous without knowing it." She just looked away, hurt and furious and also a tiny bit ashamed of the way she was behaving. If what Matt said was true then this was no time to be pre-occupied with personal issues.

Matt turned to look at Becker, who hadn't said a word or moved a muscle. The soldier held his gaze for a second, then took a smart step forward and, before anyone could react, punched the team leader neatly on the jaw.

"Matt!" Emily and Abby yelled.

"Becker! Cried Jess at the same instant. Matt had taken a step backwards and turned his head to the side. He turned back to look at the panting captain calmly.

"Better?" he asked quietly.

"Not really, no." Becker shook his head, trying to clear it, then turned abruptly and marched out of the room.

"Jess?" Matt said pleadingly. "I really need him. He can kill me later."

"Just, tell me three things, honestly. Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes."

"Did you ever suspect me, or Becker?"

"Not once I'd met you. You were a risk though, given how close you both were to Connor and how Philip gave you your job."

"Ok. Good answer. Now, Do you have a plan?"

"Yes."

"Right. Give me five minutes." She nodded at him and left. Five minutes later a calmer Becker re-entered the room, followed by a serious looking FC. The soldier looked at Matt.

"You told me you trusted me."

"I do, with my life. It was more than my life on the line mate."

"If you knew Philip was connected to Helen Cutter, why the hell didn't you tell Lester? She's a blacklisted name. He would have been arrested."

"My evidence walked through an anomaly. It was Danny who told me. Before that I thought Ethan was responsible." Becker looked momentarily about to punch Matt again for not telling him what Danny had said. But instead he rubbed a hand down his face. Matt really had to hand it to Jess.

"Are you sure it's Burton?"

"Positive."

"I wouldn't put it past him. Kind of person who'll happily trap dying employees in a building full of killer beetles, well, I'm not overly surprised." Matt should have known. He nodded in agreement, ignoring Connor's wounded look.

"He initiated the self-destruct too." Abby interjected. She clearly hadn't finished twisting the knife into Connor. Becker looked furious, but thankfully not with Matt. He leant against a table and looked at the team leader calmly.

"You never climbed Everest, did you?"

"No."

"I _knew_ it."

"Are we good then?" Asked the man from the future tentatively. Becker looked at Abby's intense face, Emily's serious one, and Connor slumped in the corner. Then he looked at Jess, who gave him a calm nod.

"Yeah. Just about. But we are taking this to Lester _right now_." Matt nodded. Becker stood up and strode from the office, Emily squeezed Matt's hand and followed him, Abby hauled Connor to his feet and walked off with an 'I guess it could've been worse' face over her shoulder at the team leader. Jess shook her head and clicked off to find Lester.

Matt sagged a little from the release of tension. Well, that went well.

**Isn't Becker completely whipped? And yes he would have punched Matt, and yes Jess is the only one who could possibly calm him down. Poor Matt. Well, his secret's out now, and there's only one more chapter left. Relieved?**


	13. Episode 506

*Ep5.06*

**Same plot as my ep 5.06 re-write. I am in denial about the actual episode and have therefore based this chapter around my own lightly AU version of events. If you are too lazy to read the actual story then all you really need to know is that Becker kissed Jess to stop her from going into shock after being attacked, then didn't mention it. As he would. Also – Future Matt? What Future Matt? I reserve the right to remove unfair cliff-hangers.**

The team walked back into the Hub, exhausted and filthy, having shepherded the passengers of the 16:47 to Brighton back onto the platform at Kings Cross from a Pliocene desert. There was no word on potential cover stories, or whether to simply tell the truth after the events of convergence, so Jess had just negotiated refunds and complementary coffees for the passengers and the team had left them milling around the station filing complaints. The ARC was a hive of activity, everyone working overtime to sort out the mess, both the physical and the political. Jess was a little pool of brightly coloured calm in the centre, tapping away at her ADD and sliding her chair serenely form terminal to terminal. Everyone logged in their black boxes and wandered off, Connor and Becker to complete reports, Abby and Emily to prep a couple of Pliocene era creatures for transportation to the anomaly. Matt lingered at the ADD, running his eye over the readings from the anomaly, relieved that they appeared normal. He would have to have a word with Connor soon about monitoring them to make sure everything was happening naturally.

"So, just another boring day at the office then?" Jess' voice cut into his musings and he smiled at her. He was a little concerned to see her hands shaking slightly, even though her smile was bright.

"Yeah. You ok?"

"I'm fine Matt."

"Jess, you were attacked by Future predators. Lester almost died. It's ok to not be fine."

"I don't want anyone to worry about me." She said severely. "There's far more important things to be worrying about." But his kindness was overwhelming her carefully constructed façade and she felt her lip tremble, as she furiously tried to keep it still. Matt pulled her out of her chair and into a hug.

"Becker's rubbing off on you. It's ok to be human Jess. Honestly. I've figured that much out."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" came a voice from the other side of the hub. An outraged Captain Becker was striding towards them, reports in hand. Jess propped her chin on Matt's shoulder, looking at the soldier defiantly.

"Hugging?" She said. "Do you need your eyes checking captain? I can book a test with the best oculist in the country if you like. We can't have our head of security going blind on us, can we?" She stepped away and looked at him, hands on hips.

"Funny Jessica. _Why_, Matt, were you hugging Jess?"

"He was making sure I was ok after nearly dying." She said, before the team leader could speak. "It's what people who care about each other do. God Becker, it's just a hug." Matt looked between his friends slightly worriedly. He had hoped a combination of Jess' second near death experience and the potential end of the world might have spurred the romantically inept man to finally make a move. However he clearly hadn't, or maybe he had felt guilty and ignored her, which was why Jess was being unusually curt. He was just wondering what to do when Becker blinked and said

"Oh, OK. Well, here's the report on the train anomaly. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." And to Matt's amazement he turned round and walked away. How thick can you get? Jess sighed.

"Listen, Jess, he'll come round. He's just a bit of a.."

"Stubborn, oblivious, insecure emotional retard with a superhero complex?"

"He doesn't think you feel the same way."

"What? What do I have to do? I _crashed_ his _stakeout_! He's been really - close - these last two days, but – nothing." He just shook his head, smiling ruefully.

"Well, shift's ended, I guess we'd better be heading off. If you need anyone to stay with you Jess, I'm sure Emily wouldn't mind."

"Of course not." Agreed the woman in question, coming up and giving Jess a hug.

"Absolutely not. I'm fine, honestly." She said to Emily, who nodded, smiled and walked off to get her stuff. "Anyway," Jess added to Matt, smiling slightly wickedly. "I wouldn't want to steal her on your first night of freedom. I mean, you've been a bit preoccupied lately. Don't suppose you've had any time alone yet." Matt raised an eyebrow at her, but to her credit Jess only blushed slightly. She was much better at controlling them these days, except when a certain Captain snuck up behind her.

"Jess you are fantastic. I'll see you tomorrow. If you need anything call me, or someone, yeah?"

"I'm fine. But I will." She added seeing his expression. (_Not_. She thought)

**xxx**

As Matt walked into the locker room he found Becker sitting staring morosely at a bar of chocolate.

"It's not going to be enough this time is it?" he asked without looking up.

"No mate. Sorry. Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" Becker didn't even seem surprised that Matt knew. He didn't deny it either.

"She doesn't feel the same way, I mean, why would she. She's six years younger than me, with her whole life ahead of her, and I'm an insecure emotional retard with a superhero complex and enough baggage to warrant an upgrade."

"Listen, Becker, two things. One, don't talk to _me_ about baggage. I suspect Jess has enough of her own, anyways, what with being a child prodigy and all. Just man up and deal with it. Two, she definitely feels the same way, otherwise she wouldn't be so pissed off with you." The soldier sighed and dragged his cheeks around his face for a minute.

"Even if that were true. I've totally blown it. I just, I didn't.. I…"

"Mate. Shut up."

"Yeah. Sorry. I've never… had problems with women before." Matt really wanted to smile at the man's discomfort, but he kept a straight face for Jess' sake. And his health.

"I have no idea mate, sorry. I'll let you know if I think of anything ok?"

"Please. Oh and Matt?"

"Yeah?" He replied, turning back at the door to look at the man on the bench.

"Mention this to anyone and I will kill you and make it look like an accident."

"Love you too mate."

Matt was halfway to his car when he thought of it. It was so simple. He fired off a quick text to Abby, and got an almost immediate reply. Then an after-text : _Matt, you're a genius, that could actually work._ He texted Becker. It took Becker a little longer to reply, when he did he was confused. Matt had to explain. Finally Becker got it. _Wow. Seriously mate, thanks._

Matt opened the car door grinning.

"What are you so happy about?" Emily asked, smiling at his infectious grin. He called up his text history and showed her what he had sent Becker:

_Jess' favourite Chinese meal is 47, 39, 72, 104 and 16 from the Golden Dragon place on her high street._

"Becker is lucky to have you, and Abby. That was a perfect gesture."

"She deserves it Em. I wouldn't have you if it wasn't for her. " Matt said. Emily nodded, smiling tenderly in agreement and, matchmaking complete, they drove home together; content in work done, worlds saved and friendships honoured.

**xxx**

**So, c'est fait a complit, what do we think? Love/loathe? Did I hit the nail on the head or was I way of the mark? Would we like a continuation/futurefic from this perspective? Would we like a similar thing with Emily and Becker, or Lester and Abby? I like writing friendships and I find boy/girl friendships easier, because most of my friends are guys, so I know how they work.**

**This fits in with my Ep.5.06 re-write and epilogues. It is not necessary to read all of them but it is highly recommended. The Ep506ReWrite will make sense of Becker's odd behaviour in the last part of this fic, and the Epilogues will tie up the loose Jecker and Memily ends, as well as provide a little Conby, the lack of which I apologise most profoundly for, I just find them really hard to write.**

**Hit the pretty blue button, for me xx**


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